Traction-engine



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D. S. STEWART.

TRAGTION ENGINE.

v'Patented 001;. 25, 1892.

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D. s. STEWART. TRACTION ENGINE.

No. 484,829. Patented oct. 25, 1892.

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DAVID S. STEWART, OF MORRIS, VISCONSIN.

TRACTlON-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 484,829, dated October 25, 1892.

Application filed May 11,1892. Serial No. 432.554. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID S. STEWART, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Morris, in the county of Shawano, and in the State of AWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traction- Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof. t

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in traction-engines; and it consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is a top plan view of a pair of trucks constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe ltraction-engine complete and illustrates certain portions of the mechanism as broken away to better illustrate details of` construction. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of one of the trucks, taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

In said drawings, A represents the boiler of a traction engine or locomotive, and B B the engines for transmitting motion to the traction mechanism.

C is a crank-shaft extending lengthwise of the machine and operatively engaged with the pitmen b b of the steam-engines B B by means of cranks c c, said shaft extending from one truck to the other and being operatively engaged with the traction devices through the medium of suitable intermediate gearing, as will be presently described.

The two trucks D D each carry two tractionwheels E E, loosely journaled upon opposite ends of a transverse axle E', upon the central portions of which the boiler is supported by means of suitable fifth-wheel connections e e', so as to enable the trucks to be turned from side to side beneath the boiler. Rods d d are engaged with ears or lugs d d on the rear end of the front truck and the front end of the rear truck, said rods being each arranged diagonally and engaged with the said ears or lugs which areA located at oppositev sides of the two trucks, this arrangement of parts being such that by a movement of one of the trucks to the right the other truck will be turned toward the left to a corresponding extent.

Power is applied to the traction-wheels E E by means of suitable gears and tractionchains, substantially of the same general construction as that set forth in a prior application, ledby me on the 21st day of December 1,891, and Serial No. 415,712, the same consisting, essentially, of a sprocket-gear F, over /which the traction-chain is passed and to 'this purpose the two gears F F at opposite sides of each truck are mounted on independent shafts F2 F2, arranged in line with each other and receiving power from the crank-shaft C by means of a differential gear, by means of which both of said shafts F2 F2 are actuated, but are permitted to rotate at different rates of speed, so as to enable the machine to be turned about in a very small space without throwing either of the traction-gears of either truck out of operation. This diierential gear comprises a bevel-pinion H, operatively engaged with thecrank-shaft C and meshing with a bevel-gear I, which is loosely mounted on the axis of the sprocket-gears F F, this latter gear carrying two or more smaller planetary gears l l', which each mesh at opposite sides with bevelgears J J, respectively keyed to the two shafts F2 F2, upon which the sprocket-wheels F F are mounted. By this construction power being applied to rotate the pinion H will obviously cause the gear I to revolve, and this gear carrying the planetary gears l I', which are in mesh at opposite sides with the gears J J, will operate to revolve bot-h of said gears J J in the same direction, while at the same time permitting one of the said wheels to revolve faster than the other, so as to cause a more rapid movement of the traction-chain carried by the wheel which is located upon the other end of the shaft upon which said IOO sns

sleeves, so as to accommodate the movements of the trucks, and these sleeves being each connected by a universal joint c' with the end of the shaft C2 upon which the gear H is secured, this shaft being suitably journaled in a bearing h in the frame of the truck.

As illustrated in the drawings, I prefer to arrange the crank-shaft along one side only of the engine and to arrange the two drivingpinions H H, actuated thereby, so as to mesh with different sides of the gears I I, so that a lrotation of the crank-shaft will operate to turn both sets of gears in the same direction.

.In order to provide a simple steering delvice for guiding the machine, Ilocate a winding-drum K at a convenient point upon the forward end of the machine, said drum being journaled upon arms 7a2 k2 on the boiler A, and to the axis ofsaid drum secure a revoluble shaft K', which extends upwardly through suitable bearings and is provided atits upper end with ahand-wheel K2,as shown in the drawings, cords 7c k being arranged to wind upon the drum K and each of said cords being connected with an ear 7c upon one side of the front part of the truck. It follows from this construction that by rotaling the hand-wheel K2 in the desired direction the'cords k 7c may be wound upon or unwound from the drum, so as to turn the front truck and guide the machine in the desired direction, the oblique connectlons between the two trucks obviously operating to turn the rear truck in the opposite direction. i

By my improvements I am enabled to construct a very compact and simple form of actuatlng mechanism for communicating motion to the traction devices and am enabled to dispense entlrely with the engines upon one side of the machine, the traction devices at both i sides of the machine being operated from the engines at one side 0f the boiler instead of necessitating the use 'of separate engines for actuating the traction devices at each side of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a traction-engine, the combination,

with the boiler and actuating-engine, of one or more trucks provided upon opposite sides with suitable traction devices, each comprising la suitable traction-wheel, a traction-chain trained over the same, and a drive-wheel for operating said chain, two shafts upon which said drive-wheels are mounted, and a ditlerential gear ybetween the crank-shaft of the engine and said shafts, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a traction-engine, the combination, with the boiler, the engine, and its crankshaft, of two trucks connected together at their adjacent ends by diagonal rods, traction devices upon opposite sides of each of said trucks, each of said devices comprising a traction-wheel, a chain trained over said wheel, g

and a drive-wheel for giving a longitudinal motion to said chain, two shafts extending transversely and arranged end to eng in each truck and each carrying the drive-wheel at one side of the truck, and a differential gear connecting the adjacent ends of the said transverse shafts in each truck with one end of the crank-shaft of the engine, substantially as described. f

3. In a traction-engine, the combination, with the boiler, the engine, and its crankshaft, of two trucks ilexibly connected together at their adjacent ends by'diagonallyarranged rods, traction devices located upon opposite sides of each of said trucks and each comprising a traction-wheel, a traction-chain trained over said wheel and an actuatingwheel engaged with said chain, transverse shafts arranged end to end and in line with each other in each truck and each carrying at its outer end one of the said drive-wheels, sleeves having sliding engagements with opposite ends of the crank-shaft of the engine, but non-rotative thereon, and a diierential gear connecting each of said sleeves with the transverse shafts in one ot' the trucks, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Shawano, in the county of Shawano and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

DAVID S. STEWART. Witnesses:

D. E. WEsCo'r'r, A. C. WEBER. 

